Many years ago pastor Mitchell told me that, while he was grateful for all that the Lord had done in Prescott, he was not content to see growth stop. The Prescott church was then about 500 people. Pastor said he wanted 1000 people. But the real nugget of truth came when he told me that truth is hard on church growth.
Are there any conservative, tongue talking Pentecostal mega-churches in America today? Most mega churches have done away with open worship and replaced it with entertainment. No speaking in tongues or prophecy or other gifts of the Spirit. God could be absent from their service and they would not know it.
I wonder if, in order to attract a large audience to your church, you have to find the least common denominator to agree to. Which, for most mega churches, is salvation in Jesus Christ. If you have Jesus, you have enough. Even if having Jesus does not change how you live or dress or talk. We, in order to grow, have become entertainers and marketers, and we have stopped being evangelists.
The Prescott church has grown since then. But not with the dramatic growth of it's early days. They have attracted some elderly retirees and retirement transplants. But our preaching and our lack of programs is a turn-off to people from other churches.
It seems to me that if we are to be true to our founding and true to our Fellowship, we might disqualify ourselves from being mega churches. Can we be content to just preach the Gospel, win souls, make disciples, and plant churches? Or is our ego hurt by not being big and influential?
This is an issue, not for a small church or a church that is experiencing dramatic early growth. This is an issue for a larger, more mature church who has a lot but wants more. Is the prize worth the price?
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